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I’m new to the forum and discovered it a couple of weeks ago while surfing to look for reference material on Fett’s helmet, in particular the Ralph McQuarrie concept of Boba Fett.
I’m a big fan of McQuarrie’s work and always liked the first concepts of the white helmet, suggesting Boba Fett was some sort of super trooper.

Even though I’m a model builder (also scratch build) I actually never attempted to scratch build a 1:1 Star Wars helmet. Here on the site I found the 2D helmet plans posted by wizardofflight, (great stuff!)
I studied them and they gave me the confidence that the model project would be a success If I used them as a template.
I Try to be as true to the concept as possible, so I slightly altered the line drawings to look less like the film version of Boba Fett and more like the concept helmet.

The basic shape is finished, now the fun begins…detailing the helmet! Studying the McQuarrie concept drawings and figuring out what the shapes are.
It’s easy to see McQuarrie had an industrial illustrator/design background. His sketches are made to explain the shapes…so improvising what can’t be seen is relatively easy.

scratch build the targeting rangefinder.

dry fitted the targeting rangefinder to see if it's level. I'll keep the parts loose until after painting.

Yesterday I created the black visor. Made a template out of cardboard, then cut it out of a transparent/flexible piece Copolyester.
I used black car window film on the sheet to get the black transparent look. Inside the helmet the visor is bolted down in four places.

Today I finished the helmet for spray painting, also added a bit of reinforcement on the inside of the cheeks, before they were a bit too flexible and wobbly. Tomorrow I will spray the helmet and loose parts all white. I choose glossy white, normally I paint with matt because it doesn’t show the imperfections clearly, but in this case the helmet is pretty smooth. (and I can always give it a matt varnish if necessary.) the inside I will paint black.
I know that Boba Fett’s helmet was initially going to be white, but I’m not sure about the characteristic cheekbone pattern. Some of the early sketches show them, some not. I’m going for the above rendition, but I’m not sure if the dark parts on the cheeks are painted patterns or just hard shadows. The do match the shadow/light angle seen in the rest of the rendition, but the color is pretty dark and could suggest painted on patterns.

Today I gave the helmet its first all-white coat of paint…good to see it in one color, but also for detecting little cracks and bumps that need to be filled. Not sure yet about the glossy finish though, a matt surface would be more conceptual like in the rendition. Maybe when finished I give it a matt coat.

Taking a long look at my helmet…I’m not so happy with the separation line between dome and under part. It’s wobbly and the edges of the plaster have crumbled. So I decide to re-work the line and make it more sharp and clean. While the putty is drying I found my old Kenner vintage Boba Fett figure. I re-modeled and re-painted it when I was 14. The paint job has fainted over the last 21 years, but still not a bad job.

I reached the boring stage, filling and sanding minute bumps and put holes…anyway I sharpened the separation line between dome and bottom.
Now I’m pleased with the result, before it looked like a lousy job, now it has that industrial sharpness.
Also made the reinforcement strip at the back side of the dome a bit thicker. Got rid of the glossy paint job and gave it a matt finish.
The pictures show only the first layer, the second layer is drying right now and looks real sleek. Now it’s finally ready for further painting.

Bolted on the range finder stalk, easy to remove for transport and it can also be dropped into forward position.

Well this is it! I finished painting the exterior of the helmet. I took a close and hard look at the initial illustrations of McQuarrie so that I could mimic his paint style.
Still need to “pad” the inside for comfort but no hurry there. Now I can display the helmet.